...on life, music, sports, and whatever else strikes my fancy.

February 28, 2012

I was thinking about the various segments of the Republican Party recently, and realized that while very different populations, they all start with the letter 'R'. As most of you know I love a good pattern. So here they are, the three four R's of the Republican Party. I believe this covers 90% of Americans who consider themselves to be Republicans.

RichThe multi-millionaires who believe rules and taxes are for other people. They believe that the poor should be pulling their own weight, instead of just getting off scot-free on the several thousand dollars they make per year. Those that run corporations are driven by profits that must happen immediately, so they send jobs overseas so they can be done more cheaply. They don't seem to realize that if more Americans have good paying jobs they'll have more money to buy the products the corporations produce. They don't want to live in our Representative Democracy, they're more interested in living in a Plutocracy.

RedneckMostly in the South, proudly waving the Confederate flag and really don't understand why people have a problem with it. The Civil War wasn't about slavery, it was about states' rights. Never mind that what the states wanted was to have slaves. They own multiple guns, and declare that *any* legislation regarding gun control is a violation of their Constitutional rights. Controls on Free Speech, however, are certainly acceptable. They really want the government to stay out of all aspects of our lives, so obviously Anarchy is their choice.

ReligiousThe Fundamentalist Christians believe that Freedom of Religion is for Christianity only, the rest of you are on your own, conveniently forgetting that's why we left England in the first place. Abortion is murder, but apparently capital punishment is perfectly fine. Homosexuality is so bad that God is killing soldiers because we as a nation are too supportive of that lifestyle. They won't be happy until we are living in a Theocracy.

RacistHow can we forget the Birthers? These are the people who are so opposed to the reality that the President of the United States is half-black that they are clinging to some fictional idea that he's secretly a Muslim who was born in Kenya despite mountains of evidence proving that he's a Christian who was born in Hawai'i after it was ratified as the 50th state in our country. We should give these folks some patch of land somewhere so that they can create their own Aryan nation.

The remaining 10% of Americans who identify with the Republican Party are reasonable people who are capable of having rational debate about political beliefs. They realize that while we may have different ideas about how the country should progress, they understand that we all want the same thing - a great country that is respected around the world and a wonderful place to live.

Dierks Bentley recently released a song called "Home" that is more inclusive than divisive, a welcome addition to my CD collection. Part of the lyrics:

Free, nothin' feels like free, Though it sometimes means We don't get along 'Cause same, no we're not the same But that's what makes us strong

January 25, 2012

"Artists become eligible for induction 25 years after the release of their first record. Criteria include the influence and significance of the artists’ contributions to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll."

Allow me to step up onto my soap box for just a moment to lobby for one of my favorite bands, Journey. I decided to look through their history and compile some facts.

The group formed in 1973They released their first album in 1975Their first song on the charts ("Wheel in the Sky") got to #57 in 1978Their first top 40 song ("Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'") hit #16 in 1979Their first top 10 song ("Who's Crying Now") got to #4 in 1981

Overall they've had:

25 songs on the charts17 of those songs were in the top 405 of those songs made the top 10

In 2007 their hit "Don't Stop Believin'" was used in the final scene of The Sopranos series, it was featured in the pilot episode of Glee, and is the closing number in the Broadway show Rock of Ages. Several sports teams, including the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Red Wings, have adopted the song as a rallying cry.